I stared at the protagonist with a painted-on smile, perfectly hiding my incoming dread. Why was she fidgeting so much? Lady, you are like, forty at this point. What are you doing being scared of a bunch of kids?

"Greetings," Gwen said, looking a lot less enthusiastic. I guess Viola hadn't made the best first impression.

"Poor thing," Clara whispered. "This is how a lot of girls who debut early like you fare. You were a bit of an anomaly to do so well."

"It's very nerve-wracking at first," I admitted, "I'm sure she'll find her bearings."

"Hopefully," she agreed.

She didn't.

For the rest of the tea party section of the day, she sat at the end of the table in silence, never quite making eye contact with anyone. It was really awkward. Maybe it was just hard to reset the mood with such a bad first introduction. Girls tried to talk to her but her responses were too short and forcing longer conversations felt so strained that they eventually gave up.

I figured I'd give it a go. "Lady Doyle," I said to Viola, she looked up in surprise.

"How do you like your tea?" I asked.

"It's good," she said. "... I like the fragrance."

"Oh, do you have the floral tea in your cup?" I asked.

"Yes..."

I clapped my hands together in delight, "You're going to be so surprised! Gwen made it herself and it's better than the tea that adults brew!"

The other girls joined in.

"Yes! Lady Gwen is so sophisticated!"

"She's so pretty too!"

"Gwen, you're going to make such an amazing wife! I heard you might become engaged to the crown prince!"

"Ooo, what is this now?" I asked in a playfully scandalized tone. "Girl, seven years old and you've already got a man? Look at you go!"

Gwen blushed, "How did you all hear this? It's not official yet, and either way, everything could still change after the flower ceremony when we're older, you know how it is."

The girls squealed. "It's true then?" A girl asked with glee.

Yes. I stan this. Ladies hyping up ladies. I missed girls. Gwen grinned, "I spent a couple of days at the castle last week and he led me around the consort's private garden. That has to be a sign engagement is coming right?"

"This can't be too much of a surprise," Clara commented, "You have already begun training to be a monarch haven't you?"

"Since I was five," Gwen agreed.

"Still, I'm happy for you," Clara smiled.

I glanced at Viola, her expression was... strange. Like she'd eaten a sour lime. I tried to reserve judgement. After all, she technically knows the future and therefore a number of things we don't know. I wished I could talk to her one on one.

The conversations continued on for another half hour but then we got up and scattered to walk the gardens. This was my chance. I got up from the table a bit too fast, ready to bee-line to my Earth-sister.

I was stopped immediately by a voice. "Briar, I really want to show you the white garden." It was Gwen. She and a few of the girls that were sitting closer to her at the table were smiling at me.

"It's beautiful Briar, you HAVE to come see it," one of the girls agreed.

I looked a Viola milling around awkwardly with a feeling of conflict. I had come here to meet her, but the other girls were a lot of fun. I sighed, information was more important.

"Actually..." I said, "I was hoping to maybe go talk to Lady Doyle for a bit, she's my age and she's the only one I didn't get to know."

Gwen frowned.

I scratched the back of my head. "I really would like to spend more time with you though. Maybe when we have our tea-making date you could show me everything!"

She nodded in approval, "That's true, we'll have lots of time. It's very admirable for you to reach out to her, she seems like... a tough egg to crack. Come find us later if you'd like."

"Of course!" I agreed and then turned to find that Viola had disappeared.

It took a bit of wandering to finally find her hiding behind a bush, staring at a young boy with the signature Gallagher red hair. He was engaged in intense sword practise with an older instructor.

He wasn't bad at all.

I approached the crouching girl from behind and leaned in. "What are you doing friend?"

She jumped and wheeled on me. "Y-you!"

I grinned and waved, "Hi hi!~"

She looked around me suspiciously. "Did Lady Gallagher send you?"

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Never mind," she said, shoulders slackening a bit in relief.

"So are you into sword practice or just cute red heads?" I teased.

She blushed. The latter I supposed.

"So who is this guy anyway?" I asked.

Her eyes said, 'how can you not know?' but luckily that's not what she said out loud. "That's Reid Gallagher, he's the first son of this household and heir to the Dukedom."

"Mm, I see... Gwen's brother, I figured. That hair is pretty unmistakable. Is this one of the guys you're supposed to seduce?" I asked.

She sputtered, "What on Earthia do you mean?"

"You know," I said brightly, "Is this one of the guys in that game that you're supposed to make fall in love with you to stop the war?"

"How do you know about that?" She asked in surprise.

"That whackadoodle Goddess didn't even tell you about me?" I asked in exasperation. "I'm your ally, sort of, in the sense that I got reincarnated too and don't want to see the mass genocide of my people. I'm down to help you out where I can."

"Wait if you're reincarnated and not part of the game, why were you acting like a stereotypical part of the villainesses' entourage?" She asked.

"What does that even mean?" I asked. She talked a lot like the Goddess, throwing around random terms I didn't know.

"You don't remember?" She asked in bewilderment. "Gwendoline Gallagher is the main villainess of the game!"

"For real?" I asked in dismay. "She seemed so cool, is she going to defect to the demon-side or something?"

Viola looked at me as if I grew a second head. "Have you never played the game?"

"Nope."

"Then why are you even here?" She asked in dismay.

"We died at the exact same time and I just kind of got dragged along for the ride." I explained.

She sighed. I got that familiar prickle of annoyance I got every time the Goddess spoke too. Acting as if this was my fault. Why does everything they say have to come out so condescending and combatant?

"Okay, so we're in the world of an otome game. Do you at least know what that is?" She asked.

Ug. Again. "Not in the least."

She let out a long sigh. GIRL BYE, except not really because I need you.

"In an otome game you play as a girl and there are a bunch of male leads who you can seduce if you go down their routes. Gwendoline is the villainess; she gets in the way of some of your relationships."

"Why would she do that?" I asked.

She wiped her face, "There's so much you don't know, and too much to explain," She whined.

"Try to give me the sparks notes version," I said, trying my best to keep up a friendly tone.

"So, when we turn sixteen," she started to say, "the first prince will be turning seventeen and the consort selection will occur over a year's time up until his eighteenth birthday." She saw me opening up my mouth to ask and cut me off. "That's a special event at the palace where all of the noble ladies gather as queen-candidates to be the prince's wife. However, the Duchess is the prince's official fiance through childhood and this event was supposed to be more of a formality since it's a kingdom tradition."

"A year-long formality... it seems like a waste of money," I commented.

"Well not really," she said. "It's not just for the prince. A lot of the young noblemen live in the palace to study or serve the monarchy, so this event is how they meet potential wives too. Plus, for girls, it's a good way to get recognized and network if you aiming to work in the palace. Lady Gwendoline is the spoiled Duchess and she gets her entourage of followers to bully you if you get too close to the prince. If you go down the Prince's route, she gets banished from the country and forced to live as a peasant for her bullying."

I looked at her in disbelief. That sounded like complete bullshit. Of course if I was engaged and some girl came in and tried to steal my man, I'd fight back.

I figured I'd just change the topic, if I voiced our differing opinions here, it would be even harder to get along. I gestured at the red-head. "So anyway, about our boy here. What's his deal?"

"He's a future knight of the prince's imperial guard. When he grows up, he's going to become the flirty-type and a total womanizer. He's supposed to meet the heroine for the first time at the palace. He flirts with her and she brushes his advances off. Then later that day, a stray demon gets into the courtyard and tries to attack her and he saves her. She notices he has a scratch on his hand from the fight and she wraps it up with her handkerchief. He's moved by her kindness and becomes interested in her."

"Well, I mean, it sounds like he was already interested in her if he was sliding into her DMs earlier," I said.

"Not really, he's just a heartbreaker-type who flirts with all girls, but he doesn't really care about any of them until the protagonist. She's his first love."

Oh. The #kboy-turned-loyal-by-the-female-lead's-love trope lives strong in Japanese media too. Come on 2020, 'you're not like other girls' and the guys who say lines like that should just be cancelled already, along with guys who are only kind to the girls they want to date.

Whatever, she seemed into him and I needed humanity to continue existing, so I figured I'd be her wingwoman. If we were at a club and she was my friend I'd usually steer her away, but this was medieval Earthia where guys are raised this way and she was clearly not my friend.

"Looks like his class is over," I said, watching his instructor gather up the equipment and leave. "Want to go talk to him?"

She crossed her arms in indecision. "I don't know, it would change the timeline. Maybe this is a bad idea and I should wait until the first flag event..."

"Okay, then let's leave," I said.

"But then again," she said, "maybe it would be good to get me in his head early."

"Then go talk to him," I said.

"No, I really shouldn't," she said.

"Quite an indecisive one aren't you?" I sighed and then noticed something. "He's walking this way you know."

"What?" She squeaked.

"Better make up your mind fast," I said. "You might want to do something. Anything. He's about to spot us hiding in these bushes.

Too late, he saw us.

"What are you doing?" He asked, eyebrows scrunched in that over the top display of judgment that only young boys are capable of. Ouch. He was still young and quite clearly not in his girl-crazy phase yet.

I glanced at Viola to see if she would respond. She had short-circuited.

"Watching," I said smoothly.

"Creepy," He said.

I laughed, "In retrospect, yeah. Sorry for being such a weirdo. Viola was just here to tell me spying was rude but then got really caught up in your swordplay, didn't you Viola?"

She nodded robotically, face red.

"You cut quite the fetching figure; I hope you don't blame her," I said.

As a young boy, he was more disgusted by this slight flirtation than charmed.

"Well, we'll just be on our way then. Sorry for bothering you." I gathered up this disappointment of a female lead and dragged her away from the unimpressed duke's son.

Well, if our fate is up to her, I guess we're all just going to die then.